“It’s my mother…”
Li San described his elderly mother’s symptoms.
Su Yun thought for a moment, then made a mental note of them.
“How about this? I’ll come back the day after tomorrow, all right? Tomorrow, I’ll go into the mountains to gather some medicinal herbs, then I’ll come back the following day.”
It was already getting late. If she returned too late, Xiao Yuan might worry about her.
And judging from Li San’s description, the old woman most likely had some kind of lung disease. It wasn’t an emergency, so waiting until the day after tomorrow shouldn’t be a problem.
Li San agreed.
Seeing that it was already late outside, he asked whether she wanted him to escort her home.
Su Yun smiled and politely declined. “No need. Thank you, Brother San.”
“I walk pretty fast. I’ll be home before long.”
Li San nodded. “All right.”
“If you ever need anything, you can come here and find me anytime.”
Was he treating Su Yun as a friend now?
Su Yun smiled politely, picked up her things, and turned to leave.
Meanwhile, Forward Production Brigade had been thrown into an uproar.
More precisely, it was the Second Team that had been turned upside down.
The Qin Aiguo family’s house had only caught fire the day before yesterday, and just yesterday they had gone up the mountain and dug up their ancestral graves. Then, that afternoon, several people who looked like officials from the city arrived.
At first, the villagers thought they were important leaders whom Qin Wen knew.
Curious, they crowded around to listen, only to discover that these people had actually come to arrest Qin Aiguo.
“What?”
Qin Aiguo’s expression turned extremely ugly.
A bad feeling immediately arose in his heart. That bitch Su Yun must have reported him.
Thinking this, he forced a smile onto his face.
“Um, leaders, comrades… could there have been some kind of mistake?”
“I’ve always honestly done my work here on the team, conscientiously serving the people.”
“I really haven’t done anything bad!”
Even now, Qin Aiguo was still trying to argue his way out of it.
Xu Dongmei, standing beside him, was equally panicked as she hurried to defend her husband.
“That’s right, comrades. There must be some mistake, isn’t there? My husband is the most honest man there is. He’s such a good person.”
“You can ask anyone in the brigade! Everyone praises my husband for being a good man!”
Perhaps Xu Dongmei was the only person who truly believed Qin Aiguo was a good man.
No one else shared that opinion.
Zhang Chenggong and the county officials gave a cold snort.
“You, Qin Aiguo, are a good man?”
“Then someone was willing to risk their own life just to bring you down? Why would they be so vicious? Because they were jealous of you?”
The official sharply questioned Qin Aiguo.
Qin Aiguo’s expression changed, and a flash of secret delight passed through his eyes.
“That bitch Su Yun is dead?”
“Su Yun?”
The official looked confused. “Who’s Su Yun?”
Qin Aiguo: “???”
Could it be that it wasn’t that damned girl Su Yun who had reported him?
The official had no desire to waste any more words on Qin Aiguo and immediately ordered his men forward to detain him.
“Take him away.”
“And bring the team’s work-point recorder and accountant back for questioning as well.”
After giving the order, the official looked at the villagers gathered around to watch the excitement. Clearing his throat, he raised his voice.
“Qin Aiguo abused his position as team leader to arbitrarily deduct and embezzle other people’s work points. He even falsely reported the names of deceased team members in order to fraudulently claim additional work points.”
“I know you all earn your work points under him, so you were afraid to speak up because you feared offending him.”
“But you don’t need to be afraid anymore. He’s been arrested and will soon face serious punishment.”
“If any of you believe your work points were recorded incorrectly, or if he threatened you in any way, come over here and register your complaint.”
“We will investigate this matter thoroughly.”
The officials immediately decided not to return that day.
They would stay in the brigade and conduct the investigation on the spot.
After hearing the news, brigade leader Zhao Fang hurried over. When he saw Qin Aiguo being held under guard, he quickly approached Zhang Chenggong and the others to ask what was going on.
Why had they suddenly arrested a team leader who had seemingly been doing fine?
Could there be some misunderstanding?
Zhang Chenggong looked at the utterly bewildered Zhao Fang and found himself wondering how someone like this had ever been elected brigade leader.
When Qin Aiguo saw Zhao Fang, he immediately began complaining.
“Big Brother, you have to speak up for me! I really don’t know what happened. These comrades from the city suddenly came and arrested me!”
Even at a time like this, he was still making excuses.
Zhang Chenggong looked at Qin Aiguo and shook his head.
The official beside him also sharply rebuked Zhao Fang.
“You’re Zhao Fang, the leader of Forward Production Brigade?”
Zhao Fang jumped in fright and hurriedly answered, “Yes.”
“I am. I’m the leader of Forward Production Brigade.”
“Hah. As brigade leader, do you normally keep both your eyes and ears covered?” the official demanded coldly.
Zhao Fang lowered his head and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“Leader, I… I… this… this…”
“That’s enough. A team leader under you has been embezzling public resources and treating human lives as worthless. As brigade leader, you cannot escape responsibility either. In my opinion, you shouldn’t remain brigade leader anymore.”
With that single statement, the official immediately stripped Zhao Fang of his position.
As for whether Zhao Fang had been involved in Qin Aiguo’s activities, and to what extent, that would be determined through the subsequent investigation.
By the time Su Yun returned to the First Team, dusk had already fallen.
Xiao Yuan had finished cooking dinner. He stood on the road outside the courtyard, supporting himself on two crutches as he gazed worriedly down the road ahead.
Only when that familiar figure appeared in the distance did he hurry forward on his crutches.
“Xiaoyun…”
“Slow down.”
When Su Yun saw Xiao Yuan waiting for her, warmth stirred in her heart.
She quickly jogged toward him.
“Slow down.”
When she reached him, she took hold of Xiao Yuan’s arm to steady him.
“The light is poor at night, and there are stones all over the road. What if you fall?”
“I came out to wait for you.”
Xiao Yuan lowered his gaze toward the young woman beside him. The worry between his brows gradually softened.
“Are you all right?”
“Mm, I’m fine. I saw Deputy Director Zhang and the others entering the village, so I made a trip to the black market.”
Su Yun explained why she had returned late.
The worry in Xiao Yuan’s heart slowly subsided.
He had only been afraid that something had happened to her.
“I’m fine.”
“I also bought some vegetable oil and pork today. And I got the silver acupuncture needles I asked them to buy for me earlier. Tomorrow I’ll go up the mountain and gather some medicinal herbs. Then the day after tomorrow, I’ll start treating your leg.”
Su Yun cheerfully told Xiao Yuan about her plans.
Xiao Yuan listened with a gentle expression.
The tall figure and the shorter one walked together into the small courtyard where they were temporarily staying.
Wu Jiangtao was keeping an eye on what was happening in the brigade.
Xiao Yuan didn’t bother asking around about it.
Su Yun wasn’t curious enough to investigate either.
Qin Aiguo’s arrest was no small matter.
By tomorrow, everyone in the brigade would surely be talking about it, so she didn’t have to worry about missing the news.
She had walked quite a distance that day. After dinner, she washed the dishes, took a bath, and then soaked her feet for a while.
While soaking her own feet, she also asked Xiao Yuan to soak his with her.
Xiao Yuan sat beside her, hesitating and stumbling over his words. It was obvious that he was reluctant.
“What’s wrong?”
Su Yun looked curiously at the man opposite her.
“Are you not used to it? Or are you worried I’ll be disgusted by your feet?”
Xiao Yuan pursed his lips and lowered his eyes.
“My feet are ugly.”
His leg injury had damaged the bones.
Around his ankle, two bones protruded prominently, accompanied by two long scars. They looked fierce and unsightly.
He didn’t want her to see them.
But Su Yun didn’t think there was anything wrong with them.
She reached out and took hold of his lower leg.
“Aren’t we husband and wife?”
“You won’t even let me see your leg? How are we supposed to do anything more intimate in the future?”